Our communities

Our goal and strategy

We seek to contribute to the social and economic progress of the communities in which we operate and believe that respecting human rights, managing our impacts on communities and making valued social investments are integral to the success of our business.

Stakeholder engagement

Supporting Canada’s ambition for a lower-carbon future and long-term economic and social development through the energy transition requires meaningful engagement and collaboration.

Imperial is committed to actively collaborating with communities where we operate, with our employees, Indigenous communities, customers, suppliers and contractors as well as with all levels of government as we work together to build energy solutions for a better tomorrow.

Our engagement program is grounded in our principles of inclusion, respect, professionalism, timeliness, responsiveness and accountability. We believe that active engagement promotes a better understanding of peoples’ concerns and ideas, contributes to good decisions, resolves issues and helps us identify mutually beneficial opportunities.

Active listening and the proactive collection of feedback helps us understand what matters to our stakeholders and allows us to share our progress. To facilitate candid feedback on our performance, Imperial regularly engages third-party firms to conduct confidential stakeholder research.

At Imperial, engagement takes many forms such as meetings, community presentations, open houses, community reports, social and digital media channels and, most importantly, through individual conversations.

We strive to build strong relationships where trust and confidence are earned, particularly in communities where we operate. Dedicated community relations resources at each of our operations work to create an open channel of communication with our community stakeholders.

In addition, we recognize that emergency planning and preparedness are essential to communications programs that are proactive, transparent and meaningful in times of crisis and we regularly conduct emergency simulations to test our tools and systems.

Grievance management

Our collaboration and engagement program also includes a grievance-management process, which provides a diverse set of platforms to enable individuals or communities to raise concerns. They include direct, in-person and electronic engagement and use of third-party proxies such as civil society organizations and nongovernmental associations. We dedicate personnel to map, track, analyze, respond to, and resolve community grievances in a timely manner.

Our grievance management practices are guided by the World Bank International Finance Corporation and Ipieca, the global oil and gas association whose goal is to advance environmental and social performance across the energy transition.

Climate

Collaborating with our community partners to develop energy solutions in support of Canada’s net zero goal.
Indigenous relations

Establishing and maintaining respectful relationships to support strong Indigenous communities.
People

Investing in equality for people in Canada and championing mental health initiatives to support our workforce and our communities.
Land and water

Supporting innovation and collaboration to reduce environmental impacts to air, land and water.

Supporting Indigenous youth on their education journey

Imperial has been supporting Indigenous youth on their education journey for 20 years. Our support focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and supporting students in the areas where we operate.

We hope that when Indigenous students complete their education journey, they find rewarding careers. Ideally, this is a long and successful career at Imperial. See page 55 for more information on Indigenous workforce development at Imperial.

Elementary school/junior high: Imperial is a long-time supporter of Actua, which engages Indigenous students in STEM subjects through handson land-based learning. Where possible, Imperial employees attend camps to volunteer and share information on their careers in STEM fields. Learn more about Actua’s land-based camps.
High school: Over the past several years Imperial has sponsored, and participated in, Indspire’s Soaring Youth Conference. The annual event brings together over 1,500 high school students from across Canada to learn about career and post-secondary education options.
Post-secondary: 2023 marks the 20th year of Imperial support for Indspire — an organization focused on Indigenous education. The majority of Imperial’s funding has gone towards the Building Brighter Future awards, a scholarship program for Indigenous youth — with Imperial’s funding prioritized to students from our operating areas. Indspire has provided scholarships to more than 500 Indigenous students as a result of Imperial’s support.

Fuelling what matters: The important role sports play in kids’ mental health

Last year, Imperial continued with the third year of our Fuel What Matters program, which aims to support mental health during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the $100,000 in funding supported KidSport — a charitable organization that helps kids play a season of their favourite sport by providing grants to cover expenses. Many studies tout the positive link between kids’ mental health and sports.

In addition to the donation, Imperial provided nearly $200,000 in Esso gift cards to support KidSport families. “KidSport Canada is proud to partner with Esso and Mobil on this initiative to help more kids get into the game by reducing cost barriers. Imperial has been a huge advocate for youth sports and mental health, so this collaboration was a natural fit for us.” Greg Ingalls, CEO KidSport Canada

Imperial’s support for kids in sport carried beyond the Fuel What Matters program. In 2022, Imperial was the title sponsor for the Alberta Indigenous Games (AIG). AIG is the largest Indigenous multi-sport event in North America and is attended by approximately 4,000 athletes.

Watch highlights from the 2022 Alberta Indigenous Games

Employee volunteerism and giving

Our employees are passionate about engaging with their neighbours and contributing to the communities where they live and work. Many are involved with local nonprofit organizations helping coach minor sports teams, working at a local food bank or donating to local causes. Through our ImpACT program, Imperial provides matching company funds for employee volunteer hours ($25/hour) and charitable cash donations (1:1) to a combined maximum of $500 per employee, per year.

The ImpACT

Imperial employees volunteered over 8,500 hours in Canadian communities last year. Combined with the corporate match, we gave more than $450,000 to nearly 850 causes through the ImpACT program in 2022.

The passion for volunteering and giving is something that is encouraged and fostered during a career at Imperial. In many cases, that passion carries on long after our employees retire. The Esso Resources Annuitant Club (ERAC), based in Calgary, Alberta, celebrated the 10th anniversary of their public service group Community Care in 2022. In 2022, the group of Imperial retirees volunteered a combined 1,878 hours in 2022 at charitable organizations such as foodbanks, the Shaw Charity Classic and the Canadian Eyeglass Recycling Centre.

Sprouting impact with Forests Ontario

Imperial partnered with Forests Ontario to fund the planting of 25,000 trees in southern Ontario to support wildlife habitat and biodiversity and improve the health of the local environment.

In addition to the organized tree planting activities, Imperial and Forests Ontario handed out white spruce seedlings and planting instructions at Esso and Mobil gas stations in the greater Toronto area and Sarnia for residents to plant their own tree in the community.

As well, Imperial and Forests Ontario hosted an information session at Northern Collegiate school in Sarnia about the importance of caring for the seedlings and tree planting in their communities.

2022 notable metrics

> $17.5 M

invested in Canadian communities

$2.75 M

raised for United Way organizations across Canada

Community investment

Our social investment strategy and activities are aligned with our sustainability focus areas and are designed to influence meaningful change. Through ongoing engagement, feedback and collaboration with our partners, we are investing in shared solutions to build resiliency within our local communities. We measure impact using data-driven tools and criteria, developed in collaboration with London Benchmarking Group Canada and our community partners.

Investing in the areas where we operate

In 2022, Imperial supported 160 organizations, primarily in the communities and locations where we operate. When combined with recipients from our ImpACT program, more than 800 non-profits and charities across Canada received support from Imperial.*

The map below depicts Imperial’s community contributions by showcasing our investments in local charities and not-for-profit organizations across the country. The size of the circle on the map reflects the number of organizations supported in each community.

Canadian map depicting Imperial’s community contributions across the country

footnotes:

^{*Every year London Benchmarking Group Canada audits our community investment portfolio and program to help us understand the total value to community of our cash and in-kind donations, our employee volunteer hours as well as our program management costs. Evaluation of our cash donations also reflects a portion of our community benefits agreements with Indigenous communities allocated to support community project funding including Indigenous leadership and capacity building.}

Sustainability Report

Supplying energy in an affordable, secure and more sustainable way.

Why we invest

Shared value is the foundation of our partnerships. While meeting community needs, we also use the following criteria to guide our investment decisions:

Strengthens relationships with our community members and other external audiences
Results in positive outcomes in our areas of operation
- ON (GTA, Southern Ontario, Sarnia, Nanticoke, Ottawa)
- AB (Edmonton, Athabasca/Fort McMurray, Cold Lake,
Strathcona County, Calgary)
- Norman Wells, NWT
- NL and Labrador
Offers employee engagement and/or volunteering opportunities
Supports workforce skill development and inclusion and diversity
Aligns with community investment focus area(s)

Meet our requirements?

We give to hundreds of organizations across Canada every year who meet our eligibility requirements. If you would like to apply for funding, please make sure you are eligible to apply.

We will review your application to ensure eligibility criteria are met. You’ll hear back from us within a minimum of four to six weeks of your application submission.

All applications and proposals must be submitted online.

Click here to submit your application

Sustainability

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